I've been working out and training for the last 4 months a lot more than I ever have in the past, with the possible exception of when I went for my TKD 1st dan back in '98. Been doing a full body lifting routine twice a week (Mon and Wed), wrestling for 2 hours twice a week (Tue and Thu) and getting in a little heavy bag work at home on the weekends. It's been working great. I've dropped about 5lbs (figure I put on some muscle mass too, though), seen some gains in the weight room, and have been loving wrestling. And I haven't really had much muscle soreness either. I have, however, been having increasing joint pain.

I have gimpy wrists that hurt sometimes. My elbows hurt when I wrestle, especially when doing things like double legs. I cranked on my hip joint when wrestling about 2 weeks ago and it still hurts. And yesterday my damn left foot started aching for apparently no reason!

So, I'm not looking to juice. I'm not a pro athlete and don't want to mess around with anything that might be illegal or might have a bunch of rotten side effects. But I am looking for some over the counter suppliments/vitamins/whatever that might help me recover from these little nagging aches and pains quicker.

First of all, it sounds like your lifting techniques might be the problem. You should make sure your being bio-mech correct in your lifting. As for supplements, multi-vitamins are good, but make sure they are made for whole food product or whole food concentrate. Also don't follow that %100 of USRDA. That figure was mainly for children back in the 50's. Your body needs more. I'll post more info later for you. But right now I have to get to work.

Hey Man, I'm in central FL. Pinellas Park anywhere near Orlando? It rings a bell, but I can't place it.

I'm curious why you think it might be my lifting that's causing the problems? I figured it was the wrestling, since that is where my joints get cranked on a lot more. At any rate, you could be right. I got the routine I'm using off of here: http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html I don't have a personal trainer, but the only free weights I'm doing are bench press and curls. Everything else I'm doing on a Universal machine (our weight room is pretty much a fitness museum! *grin*). So, what do you think?

Uh, and I haven't really been taking vitamins at all. *hides from stuff being thrown at him* I know, I know. My wife gives me crap about it all the time too. Will a simple multi-vitamin once a day really help?

Anyways, thanks for the advice. I look forward to hearing more when you get the chance.

Firstly , Trying to do all your Bodyparts in one day may be MOST of your Issue .

If you Break that action Up , not only will there be less Stresses on you , but you will have more Growth Hormone . You Produce all the Loveley Hormones when you Lift , and Producing them every day is better than Producing them 2X/Week .

Now , this does NOT mean that you do the Same Routine , you Break it Up so that it takes 3 days to do , giving yourself the same 72Hours to Recover per muscle group each time . You should ALSO know that you sholdnt be working for more than 90 minutes at a time . Keeoping it down under this Time Limit will assure that you do not go into Muscular Catabolism , and thus Screw Up any Gains that you have made .

Any person that is Lifting to Gain Strength (and you are) should be getting 1,5 Grams of Protien , per lb of Bodyweight , per day . Now , just so you see that that isnt as much as it COULD be :

http://www.eatchicken.com/nutrition/index.cfm

As you can see , meats tend to have 20-30 Grams of Protien per 3Oz of Boneless , Cooked Portion . That means that a 100 lb person only needs to eat 15-22.5 Ounces of Meat/day , which is QUITE easily done .

Here is the Protien Suppliment that I find the best for Cost/Results :

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/hd/pro.html

Its best because of HOW its constructed , its made up of Three different Protiens that your Body Digests at Different Rates , and it stays in you for Three Hours , continuously working that whole time . the fact that you get it in Liquid Form is a Bonus , less Hassle for your Digestion . Its best taken before Bedtime , and again if you wake in the middle of the Night (More tthan 3 hours later) .

I find that MOST problems with Weakness in Training is lack of Proper Protien Intake . Much of this is propagated by a study that claimed that eating more than 30 Grams of Protein would cause KIDNEY FAILURE . Unfortunately , this study was not performed on Humans , but on HOUSCATS !!!

My lifting routine is only a twice a week, so my body should be recovering okay from even a full body work out. I have however, been thinking of switching to a "push-pull" routine instead of a full body. Maybe that will help.

And about the protein supp. I may try it. Is there any special method to taking it? DO you take it before workouts? With meals? DOes it matter?

Pinellas Park is about 90min from Orlando on the west coast of Florida in the Clearwater/St.Pete area. Anyways the multi-vitamine you take should be more then a once a day thing. More like two times a day. Also the proper multi-vitamine will not be found in the grocery or drug store. You'll want to get them at a heath food store, but I don't recommend GNC. GNC tries to push their product line to much, and study after study has shown that their vitamins suck. Their herbs are good though. I personally use a multi-vitamine put out by Solgar. There are many brands out there. Just make sure it says made from whole food product or whole food concentrate on the lable. Yes, vitamins do make a diffrence, we don't get nearly the amount of vitamins &amp; minerals our bodies need from eating. So listen to your wife and go get some.

"You can't outrun death forever, but you can make the bastard work for it"

Thirdly , The other Two Nutritional Suppliments that are needed is a GOOD Multivitamin , and a Calcium , Magnesium , and Zinc . Multi's are needed because , plainly , the foods that are EWaten these days fail to meet our Hutruent Needs , and A CMZ is needed because it aids with Testosterone output , and with the USe of the Protein that you ingest . YOu have to do a BIT better than the "One-A-Day-" or "Centrum" usuals that you see in your OTC , commonly . There REALLY is NO Comparison .

Hey man, there's a vitamin world in the mall about 5 minutes from where I live! I'll definitley check it out. Do they have the protein supps and stuff too, or should I hit GNC (assuming I don't want to mail order)?

MTB,

Thanks for the info. 90 minutes eh? Technically I'm in Sanford, FYI. We should keep that in mind for a possible future McThrowdown.

Matt,
Prioritise what is important, MA or weight training.
What is the reason you weight train? strenght? endurance? good looks?? it matter for the way you will work out.
Rest and recovery are of the UPMOST importance when you do weights.
Chart your progress, write down the weight you use, for what exercises and see if you are progressing regualry, it is called "progressive resistence training", so you do have to progress.
Protein is VERY important, see what you can afford.
Red Ginseng works for some.
More often than not, over training is the problem.
Remember everytime you WORKOUT, you workout.
Your lungs, heart, kidneys, don't know if you are doing weights or MA or swimming, they just know they are being taxed.